San Elizario Salt War
| Date | 1877 - 1878 |
|---|---|
| Location | El Paso County, Texas, United States |
| Also known as | Salinero Revolt El Paso Salt War |
| Outcome | Uprising suppressed |
| Deaths | ~25 |
The San Elizario Salt War, also known as the Salinero Revolt or the El Paso Salt War, was an extended and complex political, social and military range war over ownership and control of immense salt lakes at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas. What began in 1866 as a political and legal struggle among Anglo Texan politicians and capitalists gave rise to an armed struggle waged in 1877 by the ethnic Mexican inhabitants living in the communities on both sides of the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas against a leading politician, supported by the Texas Rangers. The struggle climaxed with the siege and surrender of 20 Texas Rangers to a popular army of perhaps 500 men in the town of San Elizario, Texas. The arrival of the African-American 9th Cavalry and a sheriff's posse of New Mexico mercenaries caused hundreds of Tejanos to flee to Mexico, some in permanent exile. The right of individuals to own the salt lakes previously held as a community asset was established by force of arms.
What began as a local quarrel grew in stages to finally occupy the attention of both the Texas and federal governments. Newspaper editors throughout the nation covered the story, often in frenzied tone and with lurid detail. At the conflict's height, as many as 650 men bore arms. About 20 to 30 men were killed in the 12-year fight for salt, and perhaps double that number were wounded. The war's damage also included an estimated $31,050 in property damage. Crop losses were sustained because local farmers did not till or harvest their fields for several months, but the wheat loss was estimated at $48,000. To these immediate financial losses (worth about $1.5 million in 2007) can be added the further political and economic marginalization of the Mexican-American community of El Paso County.
Traditionally, the Mexican-American uprising has been described by historians as a bloody riot by a howling mob. The Texas Rangers who surrendered, especially their commander, have been described as unfit. More recent scholarship has placed the Salt War within the context of the long and often violent social struggle of Mexican-Americans to be treated as equal citizens and not as a subjugated people. Most recently, the "mob" has been described as an organized political-military insurgency with the goal of re-establishing local control of their fundamental political rights and economic future.
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